tmjUtah:
“Just what part of “combating crime” is covered by shooting women in their apartments? What does recreating the court of the tsars have to do with improving any Russian’s freedom? He hasn’t improved the economy. Russia doesn’t export anything but vodka, mail order brides, prostitutes, and oil… and the money in oil just recently overshadowed the profitability of the women.”
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I wholeheartedly favor a full and frank accounting of all relevant events. Let’s study and document all atrocities on all sides. Let’s document all the suffering of all the Georgians and Ossetians, and let’s allocate blame. Let the chips fall where they may.

And in some cases, we might have to ask why Ossetian women too were attacked and chased from the homes and murdered and allocated the blame to Georgian thugs.

What did Russia export during the Yeltsyn years? High technology? Pharmaceuticals? Financial and consulting services? Art?

If Russia rejected Putin’s leadership and replaced him as with, say, Gary Kasparov, then would we suddenly see a boom in such exports?

The fact is that the economy under Putin’s leadership has improved strongly and steadily.